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Hello Outriders!

Apologies all around for the delay in this post. I know that some of you were hoping to look for the people on our podcast and the links were not here! Hopefully I have sorted out the issues that stopped me from posting last week, so here's a run down of all the lovely guests.

This week on the podcast we have another lovely report from Chris Vallance about our pioneering friend Charles Babbage, a chat with a researcher who is asking pertinent questions about women in free and open source arenas and we find a place to stash our emotional baggage.

First we put our technical skills together to work on making life a bit easier or more fun for people with autism as well as their friends and family. The event is taking place on October 11th where some of the finest minds are getting together to see what they can create, especially when it comes to touch screen and mobile technologies.

When it comes to hacking of any sort - what do you think the balance of gender might be?
is the community coordinator for the Open Knowledge Foundation a non-profit that builds tools and communities to share open knowledge and date and has just finished a masters in science in Digital Anthropology at the University of London studying the role of gender in open source hacker cultures. Who better to ask then if the gender balance and comfort levels for our female hacking friends is finally coming to any state of equality.

Charles Babbage's analytical engine is arguably the greatest computer that never was. Conceived in the 1830's incorporating many of the features of modern machines, Babbage never got round to realising his grand design and only a tiny fraction of this Victorian computer was ever built.

Lucky for us, he left copious notes and diagrams. Now a campaign to build Babbage's pioneering computer has just made an important breakthrough. . Chris Vallance went to find out more about the very early plans for computing.

Last but not least this week we found out how we can give a little and share a little when it comes to our emotional states. Robyn Overstreet has a lovely solution for us to share our woes and shoulder a burden - with added music!
is a space where you can set out your problems and get a song back that might help you along.

Sadly that is all we could fit into this week's edition. Fingers crossed we will have something a bit special for you next week though as I'm diving in to the Arabic Blogger's conference in Tunis - so I'll be asking what people are up to online over there.

- Jamillah